republic-os/legislation/us/states/va/2026/hb-43.md

type, title, description, jurisdiction, legislature, session, identifier, citation, classification, subjects, status, primary_sponsors, version_count, action_count, vote_count, first_action, last_action, source, source_identifier, source_url, source_hash, vintage, source_snapshot, retrieved_at, confidence, tags

type	title	description	jurisdiction	legislature	session	identifier	citation	classification	subjects	status	primary_sponsors	version_count	action_count	vote_count	first_action	last_action	source	source_identifier	source_url	source_hash	vintage	source_snapshot	retrieved_at	confidence	tags
Bill	Suicide; abolishes common-law crime, delayed effective date, report.	Common-law crime of suicide. Abolishes the common-law crime of suicide. Suicide is currently a common-law crime in Virginia, although there is no statutorily prescribed punishment. The bill has a delayed effective date of July 1, 2027, and also requires the Bureau of Insurance of the State Corporation Commission to review the effect and implication of abolishing the common-law crime of suicide on insurance throughout the Commonwealth and submit its findings and any recommendations by November 1, 2026, to the Chairs of the House and Senate Committees for Courts of Justice.	us/states/va	Virginia General Assembly	2026	HB 43	Virginia HB 43 (2026)	bill		enacted	Marcus B. Simon	5	27	6	2025-12-23	2026-04-13	openstates	ocd-bill/3fb106f1-4e34-4918-9e9b-3e3b56efe151	https://lis.virginia.gov/bill-details/20261/HB43	0777787c50e0491330674e092e0119884fcd62a316a77cb14308bbcd8c968f09	2026-07-01	https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump	2026-07-06	reported	legislation bill us-va

Virginia HB 43 (2026) — Suicide; abolishes common-law crime, delayed effective date, report.

Common-law crime of suicide. Abolishes the common-law crime of suicide. Suicide is currently a common-law crime in Virginia, although there is no statutorily prescribed punishment. The bill has a delayed effective date of July 1, 2027, and also requires the Bureau of Insurance of the State Corporation Commission to review the effect and implication of abolishing the common-law crime of suicide on insurance throughout the Commonwealth and submit its findings and any recommendations by November 1, 2026, to the Chairs of the House and Senate Committees for Courts of Justice.

Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. Introduced (filed) — source
2. Courts of Justice Amendment (committee substitute) — source
3. Criminal Subcommittee Amendment (committee substitute) — source
4. Engrossed (committee substitute) — source
5. Enrolled (enrolled) — source

Votes

• Reported from Courts of Justice — 10–3 (pass) · upper
• Subcommittee recommends reporting with amendment(s) — 7–3 (pass) · lower
• Passage R — 22–16 (pass) · upper
• H VOTE: — 63–35 (pass) · lower
• Reported from Courts of Justice with amendment(s) — 15–7 (pass) · lower
• Constitutional reading dispensed (on 2nd reading) — 40–0 (pass) · upper

Sponsors

• Marcus B. Simon — primary (person)
• Betsy B. Carr — cosponsor (person)
• Bonita G. Anthony — cosponsor (person)
• Jackie H. Glass — cosponsor (person)
• Kathy K.L. Tran — cosponsor (person)
• Marcia S. "Cia" Price — cosponsor (person)
• Michael B. Feggans — cosponsor (person)
• Nadarius E. Clark — cosponsor (person)
• Virgil Thornton — cosponsor (person)

Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

• 2025-12-23 Prefiled and ordered printed; Offered 01-14-2026 26100450D filing, introduction
• 2025-12-23 Referred to Committee for Courts of Justice referral-committee
• 2026-01-29 Assigned HCJ sub: Criminal referral-committee
• 2026-01-30 Subcommittee recommends reporting with amendment(s) (7-Y 3-N)
• 2026-02-04 Reported from Courts of Justice with amendment(s) (15-Y 7-N) committee-passage
• 2026-02-06 Read first time reading-1
• 2026-02-09 Fiscal Impact Statement from State Corporation Commission (HB43)
• 2026-02-09 Read second time reading-2
• 2026-02-09 committee amendment agreed to amendment-passage
• 2026-02-09 Engrossed by House as amended
• 2026-02-10 Read third time and passed House (63-Y 35-N 0-A) passage, reading-3
• 2026-02-11 Constitutional reading dispensed (on 1st reading)
• 2026-02-11 Referred to Committee for Courts of Justice referral-committee
• 2026-02-18 Reported from Courts of Justice (10-Y 3-N 1-A) committee-passage
• 2026-02-20 Rules suspended
• 2026-02-20 Constitutional reading dispensed Block Vote (on 2nd reading) (40-Y 0-N 0-A)
• 2026-02-20 Passed by for the day Block Vote (Voice Vote)
• 2026-02-23 Read third time reading-3
• 2026-02-23 Passed Senate (22-Y 16-N 0-A) passage
• 2026-02-25 Enrolled enrolled
• 2026-02-25 Bill text as passed House and Senate (HB43ER) passage
• 2026-02-25 Signed by Speaker passage
• 2026-02-25 Signed by President passage
• 2026-03-02 Fiscal Impact Statement from State Corporation Commission (HB43)
• 2026-03-10 Enrolled Bill communicated to Governor on March 10, 2026 enrolled, executive-receipt
• 2026-03-10 Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., April 13, 2026 executive-receipt
• 2026-04-13 Approved by Governor-Chapter 785 (effective 7/1/2026) executive-signature

Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot 2026-07-01; origin ocd-bill/3fb106f1-4e34-4918-9e9b-3e3b56efe151. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Virginia legislature records).